Wrestle the World

I'm workshopping using the title for a ZineQuest February 2026 project. The basic idea is to keep it fairly light, and it is a wrestling game using basically the ideas from Rising Forces. Unlike a lot of Wrestling RPGs I find, the wrestling is basically "Real" here. These wrestlers want to win and really fight to do so. The game is not about working together to narrate entertaining matches, per se. Also, the world of wrestling in this game really branches out like in martial arts movies. Wrestlers will inexplicably end up in real world adventures, a little bit like those Lucha Libre movies, but more '80s action. As for tone, I'm going with really flamboyant '80s. California Games, working out in gyms in the summer, muscle beach, I-ROC Zs, animal prints, hot pink, totally gonzo.

Just to chat about the difficulties: A wrestling match ends with a pin and not someone being knocked out, generally. Usually, but not always, a wrestler is pretty beat up at the end of a match, but you never see a Pro Wrestling match that is like, a guy gets beat up by someone fighting like a boxer or martial artist, is knocked down and someone lays on them for the pin. This dynamic is part of why most normal RPG combat systems are bad at emulating a wrestling match. The lulls and contours of a match are not well simulated by other games. Also, games that do work for wrestling are often narrative style games where the players narrate the action, and if not fully in a story-game mode, even if a wrestler picks a specific style of technique to perform it is often said that they are picking the highlight maneuver that features among other in-ring action that occurs during their turn that they might be permitted to freely narrate. I'd like something that is not so much about narrating in this way.

I'm kinda half starting from a Rising Forces base currently, but have also considered something like a MSH or MURPG base. Whatever base I settle upon, it seems there has to be some kind of stamina that generally goes down over the course of a match, but that there needs to be a way to turn it around as well. Like, generally over the course of a match, the stamina should go down and the wrestlers should be in more danger, or more able to execute difficult moves that could finish a match, but it is possible to catch a second wind. Maybe something like a poker game should be considered, at least the contours of a poker game.

The Basics

Let's lay out the basics of the game. Let's start with the Attributes

Attributes

[Character Creation: Prioritize the 3 Categories (Mental/Physical/Spiritual), then assign from 1 to 5 points to each attribute (10/8/6)]

• Strength: The ability to produce physical power.
• Reflexes: The ability to quickly and accurately deploy what physical power one possesses.
• Endurance: The ability to resist physical stresses.
• Reason: The ability to process information over time and reach reasonable conclusions.
• Intuition: The ability to quickly sense or notice things and bring them into current focus.
• Willpower: The ability to maintain and continue on a course of action despite obstacles.
• Aura: The ability to project a large social or spiritual presence.
• Influence: The ability to sway others in their decision making or beliefs.
• Stability: The ability to maintain your bearing or sense of self.

This Attribute layout is slightly different from that in the original Street Fighter RPG. The main inspiration was the way DC Heroes splits Attributes, but also even White Wolf went with a similar Attribute set up for their "New World of Darkness" games. I may choose different names for the Attributes, but I'm happy with the number and function of them. The current rules I have for assigning Attributes at Character Creation are just a clone of the Street Fighter rules, worded differently. There is no reason the rule should be this way, but it also works. So, in the absense of some scheme I think is better, I am happy to leave things as they were in the original game.

Resolution

It's using my current Rising Forces resolution system. You basically roll Attribute + Skill in d6, trying to "score" on the dice rolled. One of the dice rolled is always a "Wild Die" that is of a different color from the others. Here it is, summed up:

• Roll (generally) Attribute + Skill in d6.
• One of the dice rolled is a "Wild Die" that is of a different color than other dice in the pool.
• On a normal roll, any die that rolls a 5 or 6 scores.
• On a roll with Disadvantage, only dice that roll a 6 score.
• On a roll with Advantage, dice that roll 4, 5 or 6 score.
• If the Wild Die rolls a 6, it scores 2.
• If none of your dice score and the Wild Die rolls a 1, you have Fumbled.
• If none of your dice score, you have failed.
• If your pool scores 1, you have achieved a Marginal Success.
• If 2 or 3 of your dice score, you have achieved a Complete Success.
• If 4 or more of your dice score, you have achieved an Exceptional Success.

Bullet-pointed Brain Storming

Let's do it.

• The way I'm working Stamina in Rising Forces could be really cruicial here.
• I need a list of Techniques that is a bit different from Rising Foces, to emphasize the wrestling angle more.
• The ideas I have for Basic vs. Special Maneuvers in Rising Forces could be tweaked here, lemme just toss out some totally unexamined brainstorming.
• Moves that cost stamina vs. ones that don't. Wrestlers maybe get access to more moves in basic-like fashion? Maybe gated by Technique level?
• Maybe moves that can be performed at Disadvantage/Advantage. Like, you can perform a wide variety of moves at disadvantage (rather than costing Stamina as in Rising Forces), and maybe Advantage for signature techniques?
• In Pro Wrestling some moves are flashy, and you don't think about it too much of course, but maybe flashier moves can build up something kinda like heat. Moves that don't look like there is any reason they would hurt the opponent more than a simpler move could still be done because their difficulty pumps the crowd. It's almost like skateboarding or something. Is there anything I can do with this idea?